Because I think Mario is pretty epic.I think I like the Mario games better than the Sonic ones, actually. Why? I don't know! XD But there's something the fat Italian plumber has that no other game series does, that's for sure.

So, I decided to do Mario because I have 4 Mario shirts (in 4 different colors), a Mario wallet, and a ton of Mario games. Yes, a lot of Mario stuff, but no Mario artwork. Now, I feel complete.

This took me all day to complete. First, I had to track down the PERFECT stage to put these guys in. So I found a version of Bowser's castle which looked awesome. Then, I had to figure out the shading, which was difficult. I'll admit, the lighting is pretty funky, but I'm still pleased with the overall look of the picture.

By the way, I no longer use a mouse to do my coloring. Not that you could tell anyway. XD

The video game crash of '83, sales were doing poorly to most Atari/Intellivision games from Pac-Man to E.T., PC gaming were superior around that time until Miyamoto and team Nintendo created the NES and Mario Bros.

I remembered watching the tv show Icons on G4, I'm sure there's an episode floating around on Youtube.

I never thought of that. Normally, I'm good with the reasons why certain franchises exist, like DC & Marvel, Doctor Who, Narnia/LOTR and even Disney. But I never knew anything about why Mario existed. I just enjoyed his games!